Associate Professor of the Legal Institute Vyatugu Elena Gordeeva took part in a scientific and popular talk-show "The Evening of Scientific Scary Stories"

 The event was centered around experts debunking fears, delusions and superstitions, answering the questions of the audience and from the point of view of science explaining what it was that caused those fears. This time, the talk show was devoted to the topic of "disappearance"

The talk-show was organized by the Atomic Energy Information Center (AEIC) Kirov.

At the invitation of Svetlana Zako (the director of AEIC of Kirov), Associate Professor Gordeyeva, an expert in international environmental law, spoke at the talk-show as an expert on issues related to the disappearance of forests: their degradation and deforestation. Elena Gordeeva confirmed fear of forest disappearance.

    According to the World Agricultural and Food Organization (WAFO) of the UN, more than 5 million hectares of forest disappear annually. If the pace of deforestation and degradation of forests will remain at this level, then all forests of the world may disappear after 800 years, -

the speaker told. According to her, the main reasons for the disappearance of forests are anthropogenic: it is the deforestation of forests by man, and the transformation of forests into forest-less lands (for example, for the needs of agriculture). Deforestation and degradation of forests have terrible consequences. So, the cutting of wild forests can lead to the emergence and distribution of new infectious diseases.

Such an environmental problem as deforestation and degradation of forests, is well studied internationally. And although there are no unified international agreements on forests, many international legal regimes aimed at protecting the environment, one way or another, regulate issues related to the disappearance of forests. Today, international legal regime on climate protection is actively developing. Since the forest can act as both an absorber of greenhouse gasses, and their source, within the framework of the international legal regime on climate protection, legal instruments are being developed that regulate forest relations among other things. In order to ensure the fulfillment of international obligations established in the framework of the Paris climate agreement and to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions, by 2050, the European Union has declared the possibility of using the so-called "carbon tax" ("cross-border carbon mechanism"). Russia addresses the possibility of developing a legal mechanism, which would allow to take into account the absorbing ability of Russian forests in order to protect climate.
At the end of the presentation, Elena Gordeyeva stressed that today there is a more comprehensive task in front of humanity than simply "preservation of forests". According to the scientist, humanity goes to a fundamentally new level - conservation of nature through management. Replacing the word "saving" to "Management" is not just semantics. To preserve biological diversity on Earth, which is the basis for the life and activities of mankind on Earth, it is necessary to make a competent management of natural resources. A relatively new "Green Infrastructure" concept appears. So far, there is no uniform, officially adopted definition of this concept at the international level, but the point is that nature is considered as a "manufacturer" of ecosystem services, and a person manages this "production". In the most common traits - on the example of forests: people decide, 'save the forest', and if so, where? For what? For economically favorable wood workpiece? Or the forest is like a place for walking, tourist hiking, recreation. Or the forest - as a habitat of a rare species of a plant or an animal. It can all be different types of forests. And the choice is made by people. Deciding what will the nature be like, when our children grow up. Despite the fact that the "Green Infrastructure" is the concept of the future, today the "green infrastructure" is provided for by the legislation of many countries and integration associations, including: USA (for example, Green-Belte), the EU ("Natura 2000") And China (for example, the famous city of the future "Forest City").

According to the participants of the event, the evening was useful and informationally saturated. Elena Gordeyeva received an invitation to continue cooperation with AEIC, including taking part in the scientific expedition to the UNESCO World Natural Heritage site - Lake Baikal.

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